Caecidotea nickajackensis

Caecidotea nickajackensis is a species of isopod crustacean in the family Asellidae. It was believed to be endemic to a single cave in Tennessee, and was thought to have been exterminated when that cave was flooded in 1967 by the building of the Nickajack Dam, however, in 2013 the species was discovered within Horseskull Cave and Raccoon Mountain Caverns.

Caecidotea nickajackensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Isopoda
Family:
Asellidae
Genus:
Caecidotea
Species:
C. nickajackensis
Binomial name
Caecidotea nickajackensis
Packard, 1881

Distribution

Caecidotea nickajackensis was first recorded in Nickajack Cave, Tennessee, before the building of the Nickajack Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1967.[2] Two other obligate stygobionts were exterminated in the same action – the pseudoscorpion Microcreagris nickajackensis and the ground beetle Pseudanophthalmus nickajackensis.[2] In 2013 Caecidotea nickajackensis was discovered within Horseskull Cave and Raccoon Mountain Caverns.

Conservation

C. nickajackensis was listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List,[1] and as a "species of concern" under the Endangered Species Act.[3] It was extirpated from Nickajack Cave in 1967, and was now thought to be extinct.[2]

Taxonomy

Caecidotea nickajackensis was first described by Alpheus Spring Packard, in an 1881 publication by Edward Drinker Cope and himself, titled The Fauna of Nickajack Cave.[2][4] A second species, C. richardsonae, was described from the same cave by William Perry Hay in 1901, and was thought to be a junior synonym of C. nickajackensis for a long time.[2] It was now recognised as a separate species distributed from Alabama to Virginia.[2]

References
  1. Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group (1996). "Caecidotea nickajackensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T3448A9865322. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T3448A9865322.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. Julian J. Lewis (2009). "On the identity of Caecidotea nickajackensis (Crustacea: Isopoda: Asellidae)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 122 (2): 215–224. doi:10.2988/08-47.1. S2CID 85857145.
  3. "Nickajack Cave isopod (Caecidotea nickajackensis) species profile". Environmental Conservation Online System. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. March 28, 2011.
  4. E. D. Cope & A. S. Packard Jr. (1881). "The fauna of the Nickajack Cave". The American Naturalist. 15 (11): 877–882. doi:10.1086/272948. JSTOR 2448794.
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